08-20-2011, 04:42 PM
"Milady, you can't walk on a state dinner like that!" Melinda cried despairingly as she chased after the princess. "You'll have offended the ambassadors! Rinnerath cannot afford such a disaster!" Paige flung open the doors of her antechamber, almost hitting the older woman. "Milady!" she protested vehemently.
Paige slammed open the doors to her bedchamber, and whirled about, using her body to block the doorway. "I don't care if you are a member of the senior council, I will have you flayed if you attempt to follow further into my chambers," Paige warned Melinda in a low smooth voice when it appeared as if the other woman meant to follow her. One of Paige's long standing rules was that no one was allowed to enter her personal chambers. Even her lady's maids were only allowed into the antechamber.
Melinda halted in her tracks, but there was a stubborn spark in her eyes as she opened her mouth to retort. Paige cut her of mid syllable. "No. You are not going to lecture me like I am a child throwing a tantrum. I know perfectly well what I did by leaving that farce of a dinner exactly when I left it. I averted the large mess the servants would have had to clean when those so called 'dignitaries' heads' exploded all over that oh so polite dinner. You know as well as I do that not a single one of those fakes is even considering for one second contracting an alliance with Rinnerath. After Madcap's death our only ally has been Clothia -- as fragmented as their government is -- and that hasn't changed in the intervening years since his celebrated death."
"You cannot speak of your late father in such a manner," Melinda reproached.
Paige's smile was as friendly as a shark's. She lowered her lashes demurely and spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone. "Oh, how could I forget my decorum. Please excuse me, I meant to say King Madcap." With that Paige slammed the twin doors shut, taking deep satisfaction in the sound of the lock smoothly clicking into place. The red headed woman sighed before turning to survey her bed chambers. The room was dim, like she liked it, lit only by a single globe of steadily glowing wizard's fire. Nothing immediately jumped out at her as being out of place, so she relaxed the tight shields that kept her mind in place. The tension seemed to drain right out of her body, the low level pounding in her temples disappearing in an instant. The powerful dampening spells embedded into the very walls of her room were strong enough that Paige could finally release the tight grip she constantly kept on her powers. It was like basking in a bubble of complete and utter silence. Even using all of her considerable power Paige had only once been able to touch another's mind while she'd been ensconced in this room. And since that time, the wards had been strengthened.
After a moment more of silently reveling in the lack a tension, Paige finally stepped away from the door and walked further into the room. She was rather tempted to throw something just so she could listen to the sound of it shattering, but she restrained herself, if only so she could say she had more control that either of her parents. "Not that it takes much," she muttered, busily pulling out all the baubles and pins the maids had used to style her hair. She scattered them haphazardly on the vanity table and plopped down on the small stool. Paige stared moodily in the mirror, propping her chin up on one hand. The light from the wizard's fire cast a sickly blue shade to her skin, skin that Paige knew was growing far paler than she liked. She jabbed a finger accusingly at her reflection. "You need to get out more," she informed the exhausted girl in the mirror. But in between the countless council meetings and the seemingly endless parade of foreign dignitaries Paige had been unable to spend as much time outdoors as she was used to. Heap on top of that preparations for her impending coronation, and the not so subtle hints that she should find a king... Well, quite frankly Paige was exhausted. "When are they going to learn that I'm not some puppet for them to yank around?" she groused, frowning fiercely at her reflection.
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